Chapter 531: Introspection

Chapter 531: Introspection

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When she first met Cynthia, or at least the first time she became aware of her existence, Emilia's first impression of the raven-haired girl had been that she was a mysterious and powerful entity who took pity on her.

And although she was too ashamed to vocally make a vow that she was perhaps powerless to properly honor, Emilia still recited the pledge of eternal gratitude towards her 'savior' in her heart.

Of course, it didn't take long for the crimson-haired girl to get more familiar with Cynthia. But while she was a lot easier to get along with than she expected, and could perhaps even be considered childish, many things about her still remained unknown to Emilia to this day.

She didn't know where Cynthia came from, how old she was, or even what she wanted to do.

It wasn't as if Emilia never thought of asking these questions, or thought that Cynthia would reject them. After all, even if she did so, how harsh could the raven-haired girl be, really?

The reason she didn't do so was because Emilia knew she wasn't prepared to listen to her partner's answers.

After all, now that she understood chaos energy a little more, she also realized just how monumentally horrifying a level one must reach to be able to contain and revive a dead soul, and even give them a new body like Cynthia had done.

Emilia couldn't even imagine doing anything similar in the next ten thousand years.

And what made it all the more terrifying was the fact that the chaos energy Cynthia used had to be constantly channeled and wrestled with, forcibly making it manifest the effects she wanted, which had to be immeasurably more difficult than what Emilia would have had to do.

This was more than enough to make the crimson-haired girl certain that whatever level Cynthia had reached once upon a time had to be far, far higher than what she could even imagine right now.

And whoever managed to put her down from there was definitely not an enemy she could contend with. Not right now.

But while the thought made Emilia a little depressed at the start, it didn't stop her for long. After all, as long as she continued to grow, would she not be able to overcome any obstacle that might block their path eventually?

Of course, the thought that Cynthia wouldn't even need her help never crossed her mind. Since the raven-haired girl went to such great lengths to 'save' her when she was already so low on energy, and even reformed her body to use as her new 'home', how could she not have a purpose in mind for it all?

Emilia wasn't someone who would feel betrayed by someone's kindness just because they expected something in return.

After all, regardless of whether they wanted her gratitude or something else, as long as someone had helped her out in a time of need, Emilia felt that they should probably be entitled to at least something equivalent or greater than the favor they had shown.

For Cynthia, who allowed her to be who she was today, Emilia didn't think any favor would be too great.

This was why, even though she threatened and teased her partner from time to time, the crimson-haired girl never really went through with most of her threats.

She could be more intimate with Cynthia every passing day, and she could play around and make fun of her as well, but Emilia was acutely aware of the fact that she was still very much in her partner's debt.

Until she'd repaid the girl's debt at least a little and they were on more equal footing, how could she even look Cynthia in the eyes and boss her around?

Emilia had long since convinced herself that it was only a matter of time.

Cynthia told her that she would rest within her body, and wait for her to 'evolve' through various missions in different worlds, and the crimson-haired girl had always assumed that there would come a day when she was considered 'ready'.

A day when her partner would finally reveal the real 'mission', and Emilia was fully prepared to go through with it, regardless of what it was.

But looking at the strange fluctuations of Cynthia's slumbering soul in front of her, the crimson-haired girl couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart.

This was a pattern that was familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time, and Emilia couldn't help but recall how she felt on the first day she had touched upon the pool of chaos energy inside her.

'Could it be that Cynthia is also… evolving…?'

The thought sparked both happiness and despair in Emilia's soul, and she couldn't help but reel back a little in shock.

Cynthia had always made the crimson-haired girl believe that she would only leisurely watch her partner become stronger and keep completing missions on her behalf, and always whined about how cultivating her own strength was 'too troublesome'.

Emilia always assumed that it must be either simply because she didn't want to do it all over 'again', having been much stronger before, or perhaps because Cynthia finally realized her 'true nature'.

In either case, the crimson-haired girl had always been a little proud of the fact that her partner believed in her capability enough to put all her hopes on her, and it wouldn't be wrong to say that it was one of her core motivations.

It was naturally a good thing that her 'savior' might be getting stronger, but if Cynthia restored her former strength…

'…Will she ever even need my help?'

A dark thought momentarily crossed Emilia's mind, but was immediately squashed out ruthlessly. 'No, it's not that Cynthia was deceiving me… With how fragile and easily collapsible this pattern is, I can easily undo it and cause her evolution to halt.'

She shook her head in denial. 'Even if she's an idiot at times, even Cynthia wouldn't take such a foolish chance if she knew in advance that this would be happening.'

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